Supply, Demand and Price in the Fraser Valley

As night must follow day, prices ultimately are on the heals of supply and demand. The Fraser Valley real estate market was hot this July and that created an interesting situation. Sales in Surrey (which includes Central Surrey, Cloverdale and North Surrey) were up 8.6% from July 2013 (341 vs. 314 sales). White Rock and South Surrey real estate was also heating up with a sales increase of 5.1% over last year’s July (123 vs. 117 sales). But (and you knew that was coming) new listings were slightly down.

The rise in sales is stemming from the demand for single family homes and townhomes. Overall the Fraser Valley had 1,615 sales in July 2014, up 10.9% over last July. Sellers, on the other hand, are still recovering from the downturn in prices from last year and have not yet reacted to demand. That is, sellers are still holding off on listing their home waiting for prices to rebound. Demand is the usher of supply, so sellers will get wind of price increases and new listings will ultimately appear in the MLS listings in the coming months.

The president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, Ray Werger, was quoted as saying that “… our market has fully recovered from last year’s slump and has returned to what we typically see in the Fraser Valley, which is a steady, consistent market”. Good news!

There is a trend towards increasing prices for single family detached homes and townhouses, but a little softening of prices of condos. The reason for this is quite simply, back to the supply and demand concept. The number of new listings of detached homes declined, while there is lots of supply of condos. This creates an excellent opportunity for sellers of single family homes and buyers of single family homes and condos. The South Surrey real estate market has been busy, particularly with all the new developments in the Grandview Corners area.

How can this be? Isn’t it either a buyers’ or sellers’ market, not both. In our complicated real estate landscape you can have both buying and selling opportunities playing out at once. If your home is what the market is seeking, there are tremendous opportunities for a good price. Also, as Mr. Werger said, over time we are in a steady consistent market. The buyer of your home, can look at Fraser Valley trend and feel confident that they too can live in and enjoy a home that is an investment in their future.

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The data relating to real estate on this website comes in part from the MLS® Reciprocity program of either the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) or the Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board (CADREB). Real estate listings held by participating real estate firms are marked with the MLS® logo and detailed information about the listing includes the name of the listing agent. This representation is based in whole or part on data generated by either the REBGV, the FVREB or the CADREB which assumes no responsibility for its accuracy. The materials contained on this page may not be reproduced without the express written consent of either the REBGV, the FVREB or the CADREB.